Me Inside
by I Lost My Buh-Lance
Summary: Noodle looks in the mirror, and doesn't see a little girl anymore. And she realizes she has sex appeal, and yet, a not-so-handsome boy seems to be quite relaxed around her.


_A.N.: A bit of a personal story. I don't own Gorillaz._

**Me Inside**

Noodle gazed at herself in the mirror. It was nothing new. It was the same girl she had seen for the past 18 years....but that was the thing. 18 years, passed, and she saw the same person, yet so differently.

She remembered back when she first set foot in this building known as "Kong Studios". Life seemed so simple to her back then. Everything looked beautiful, even the gloomy days with zombies slowly parading about their stone, destroyed graves.

But when she went to the city, she would merrily skip on the sidewalk, looking at all the towering adult people going about their busy lives. She was the young girl who everyone would see. She was literally the definition of youth: happy, carefree, loving, and energetic.

Days seemed so slow to her when she was a little girl. Noodle would often ponder about the future, it seemed so exciting and carefree. She imagined herself as a strong, beautiful women with people treating her kindly and the world still seemingly carefree and simple.

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into years. She began feeling differently towards the boys in school. She began noticing their bodies, and their faces. She began noticing their biceps, and their personalities. The fact that they played sports would "turn her on".

However, despite her slowly becoming more mature, she would still retain her caring and warm personality, not caring whether the opposite sex was attractive or not, but simply treating them naturally.

She met quite a number of boys in high school. Many of them attractive, yet some were quite aggressive. Aggressive, as in wanting her body. Some would often put their arms around her, and "tickle" her waist. She would laugh, but sometimes, _she_ didn't even know if the laugh was real or not, more like a cry for help.

Her physical beauty would sometimes call the attention of strangers on the street, which brought some suffering to her when walking home alone.

Every day, while walking down the street, either with friends or herself, a much older gentleman would often "cheer" at the site of her crossing, usually resulting with her remarking a sarcastic comment to herself, such as "You're like, 50, right?"

Sometimes, she could tell when someone was trying to call her attention, even when it was faint and distant. Such as a car beeping at her, obviously knowing it was a horny driver behind the wheel.

Sometimes, after being harassed by strangers, when she would get home, she would not tell her "family", about it. She would simply get on her bed, throw the covers on, and weep for hours on end. She didn't know if her beauty was a blessing or a curse.

However, one day, she met a boy. Not a handsome boy, but nonetheless, this boy stood out among his peers.

He stood tall, he always had been. He was six feet tall, dark-haired and often spiked it, and he had a large nose. He promised himself he would get rhinoplasty when he was old enough. He had a long face, and a very mature-looking one. People would often question his age, if he were 20 years old. He was only 17. Sometimes, he'd scare people, due to his large height and seriousness of his face.

But, despite this, he was very warm-hearted, and had a large sense of humor. As a child, he was often bullied, due to his tender and shy personality and relatively large height. He would often cry at night, asking _Him_ what he did to get the treatment he deserved. He was a friendly person, he never did anything to the bullies. So why did they treat him as if he did?

But, as the years went by, this boy grew more confident, and stood up to the bullies, and even frightened them after a while. He could resume his identity as a tall and friendly person.

One day, he met a girl in his class. She had an awkward name. It was Noodle. The boy introduced himself. His name was Trent.

Noodle saw Trent as a sensitive-yet-brave guy, and she saw him as a little "too innocent". So, sometimes, she would often tease him, such as asking him, "Have you ever even _kissed _a girl?"

He would often look at her strangely, but yes, he had. Yet she didn't believe him. So, often she'd joke in front of his friends, who harassed her sometimes, and say that she'd "find him a girl".

That left Trent disappointed, since he had a developed a small crush on her.

When Summer vacation started, Trent secretly thought of Noodle every once in a while. Did she like him? Probably not. Did she remember him? Probably, yet she probably didn't think of him much. But if that was so, then why did she always look at _him _when one of his friends "tickled" her? Could it be that maybe, just maybe, she liked him a little?

Well, as Summer vacation ended, and a few weeks after school resumed, Trent was walking home alone.

Noodle, on the other hand, was with a few friends, standing in front of the school. She was afraid of the "strangers", so she decided to stay with her friends, hopefully waiting for someone big and strong she knew that could possibly "walk her home."

At that moment, she spotted Trent, walking down the steps of the high school. She called to him, even saying "yoo-hoo!"

He turned and gave her a warm smile, and replied with "Oh, hi!" (although there could've been some indication that he knew she was there).

She asked if he remembered her, and he replied with "Yeah, of course."

And then suddenly she asked him, "Hey, could you walk me home?"

The question was like a punch to the face. She just asked him so randomly.

He replied with, "yeah, sure." And she went to say good-bye to her friends, and Trent just stood there, still trying to realize what had just happened. The girl who everybody wants, just asked _him,_ a not-so-attractive guy, to walk her home. If he didn't know any better, he'd say this is mainly a boyfriend and girlfriend thing.

So, he walked her home. And it was there that he found out her deep secret. A man had driven by and he "cheered", as he passed the couple. She, obviously trying to pretend it wasn't anything, suddenly exclaimed "Oh My God, don't even think about it, you're like, 50!"

Trent arched his eyebrow and stared at her and said, "what?"

But then, he turned around, and it came to him. His eyes opened widely, and he said, "Oh, he did that to _you!?" _

She blushed slightly and nodded her head. He didn't say anything more. He simply lowered his head and continued walking. Until finally, he reached the gates at Kong. Luckily, the zombies were still underground, so he wouldn't get scared off. So, he bid his farewell to her, and she asked him something.

"Wait, where do you live?"

He simply smiled for a moment, a kind smile, and shook his head. And then, he turned around and slowly walked away, not looking back....

Noodle just stood there, staring at him as he walked off. So different from other boys....that made him special...

**&**

Noodle gazed at her mirror, looking at her face, her body, her everything. She realized something. She wasn't looking at a cheerful little girl anymore. Now, she was looking at a beautiful young women. The thought made her both proud and sad. She finally began realizing that when age comes, it develops everything.

Her innocence slowly was vanishing, seeing the sometimes cruel nature of the world.

What would happen to her when she grew older? Would she not be able to help herself? Would her soft skin turn into wrinkles? Would she slowly start aching? Would her hair turn white and thin?

She turned and gazed out her window. She saw the gloomy clouds had parted, and the sun was slowly setting. It was beautiful. Somehow, despite her worries, it gave her confidence, knowing that she had plenty of time to gain strength for the coming years in her life.

"Give me strength", she whispered, looking at the setting sun, "give me strength, always..."

_A.N.: Well, I know this story did not have much detail, but it's sort of personal. I suppose it's because I haven't written a story in a while. I suppose I got inspiration for this story from myself. One day, I looked in the mirror, and I didn't see a kid anymore. Now, all I saw was a man. A tall, strong man. And, like Noodle, it made me wonder. Well, please review. =)_


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